Blink, Laugh, Share, Forget

Those four words capture Generation Z in a nutshell, according to marketing consultancy The Future Company. The age group born between 1995 and 2015 will comprise more than a third of the US population by 2020.

Gen Z kids have a notoriously short attention span of eight seconds. 11% are diagnosed ADHD.

Blink, laugh, share, forget

Snapchat, Gen Z’s preferred social media platform, is an excellent example of this experience. An image flashes onto a mobile screen. Maybe it’s adorned with a goofy filter — whiskers and ears — or inscribed with a silly caption (Hoppy to see you!). It lingers onscreen for exactly 10 seconds, then dissolves.

Poof. Gone.

By then, most users have created an image of their own, uploaded, replied and searched YouTube™ for a new video.

After all, 10 seconds, is, like, forever.

Blink, laugh, share, forget

How do educators speak to this? Student distractability already frustrates faculty. Many teachers say they feel like they’re at constant war with the devices students regard as indespensible.

Some experts say the problem isn’t the students, the rise of ADHD or a lack of discipline.

Our educational paradigm is out of touch. Students have thousands of bells, whistles, flashing lights — and bunny ears — competing for their attention. In this a hyper-stimulating age, how can we expect them to pay attention to the boring stuff we teach in school?

Here’s some advicee:

Blink — Let images do the talking and keep classrooms wired. Gen Zers are the force behind the rise of the emoticon. This is a visual generation.

Share — Have students work together. Millenials are known for narcissism; Gen Zers have a collaborative outlook. It’s the “we generation,” not the “me” generation. Students prefer to study together in person and via Skype, according to the Barnes & Noble College survey.

80% say they prefer studying with friends

67% say studying with others makes learning more fun

64% say class discussion is the most helpful low-tech learning tool

Only 12% rank classroom lectures an effective learning tool

Keep students talking in class and allow them to change the subject. It doesn’t hurt to go “off-topic” as long as you find a way to bring them back to the original focus now and then.

Forget — There’s the rub. Given the onslaught of information tugging at a Gen Zers attention, it’s healthy for students to filter things out. But how do educators teach students what to remember and what to forget? Learning and remembering are inseparable. This problem isn’t going away.

82% of students surveyed say they plan to go directly from high school to college

Lori Reese has more than 15 years’ experience teaching in college and K-12 classrooms. She studied philosophy as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, earned an MA in English and Creative Writing from Hollins University and an MFA from University of North Carolina - Greensboro. At UNCG she won the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award and received a Fulbright to conduct research for a novel in Sri Lanka. She has taught undergraduate creative writing, composition and literature as well as seminars for the Lloyd International International Honors Program. She worked in private K-12 education for two years as an English teacher and Academic Dean.